Jacob Markstrom’s tenure with the New Jersey Devils has not gone as planned to this point.

Markstrom, who was traded by the Calgary Flames to the New Jersey Devils ahead of the 2024-25 season, was expected to be a stabilizing piece on a team many felt would soon be competing for Stanley Cups. Instead, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes last year, and currently sit three points out of a wild-card spot this season.

Markstrom, while not deserving of all blame, has played a role in the Devils’ struggles.

The 2024-25 season saw Markstrom post a mediocre-at-best 2.50 GAA along with a .900 SV% in 49 appearances. The Devils had hoped for a bounce back in 2025-26, but that hasn’t been the case.

Markstrom has had a dreadful season to date, sitting with a 3.48 GAA and a .878 SV% through 22 games. He hasn’t been good all season, but hit an entirely new low on Tuesday night versus the New York Islanders.

The Devils were thumped by the Isles by a 9-0 final, a game in which Markstrom was forced to play all 60 minutes. By the time the horn had sounded, he’d allowed nine goals on just 24 shots.

As it turns out, Markstrom’s start last night was the worst from a goalie in modern-day history. He finished the outing with a goals saved above expected (GSAx) of -7.34, which surpassed Brian Elliott’s NHL-worst -7.21 GSAx in a start versus the St. Louis Blues during the 2012-13 season.

Shout out to @DominicDs34 for the correction, this chart erroneously included shootout goals against.

This makes it even more impressive that Markstrom still ranked 1st.

Here are the corrected top 5 worst goalie games ever: pic.twitter.com/e9u1OIZDWq

— Patrick Bacon (@TopDownHockey) January 7, 2026

“It’s embarrassing,” Markstrom said postgame. “We want to apologize to the Devils fans. I’ve got to be better and stop more pucks. We put up 40+ shots and they put up what, 20, scored nine.

“I’m embarrassed for myself and towards my teammates and the fans. It’s not good enough. I need to be better.”

Though the trade that sent Markstrom out of Calgary had some detractors at the time, it’s quite clear looking back that the Flames won this deal by a wide margin. They received Kevin Bahl, a defenceman who has fit in seemlessly in their top four. They were also able to bring in a 2025 first-round pick, who they used on forward Cole Reschny.

Shipping Markstrom out of town also paved way for Dustin Wolf to take over the starting role in Calgary. Though his 2025-26 season has been up-and-down, he’s fared much better in the Flames crease than Markstrom has for the Devils.

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